The GOP’s Culture-War Hail Mary
Will it work?
As the conflict in Iran stretched into its seventh month, gas prices soared to an average of $4.50 per gallon, and recent polls indicated that President Trump faced significant unpopularity among American voters. Republican senators recognized the need to address what they deemed the most critical issue of the 2026 campaign: transgender athletes.
Senator Marsha Blackburn declared, "Girls' sports are for girls. Boys' sports are for boys." With only 32 days left until the midterm elections, the GOP's strategy became clear: they would focus exclusively on trans issues. Texas Republicans aired an unsettling AI-generated ad featuring Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico dressed as Maria von Trapp, singing about girls with mustaches.
An Iowa ad accused Talarico's opponent, Josh Turek, of supporting "sex changes for kids." Former Representative Matt Gaetz tweeted, "I hate the war too," but emphasized the Democrats' desire to "trans your kids." Republicans' strategy was partly due to a lack of other compelling arguments, as the administration's immigration-enforcement tactics were unpopular and voters had lost faith in the GOP on economic matters.
The president's obsession with Corinthian columns might have distracted from their focus on transgender athletes. However, Republicans believed that this strategy had proven effective in the past. A series of ads targeting then-Senator Kamala Harris's support for gender-affirming surgeries had been among Trump's most persuasive, and similar tactics could determine whether Republicans retained or lost the Senate in November.
The American Principles Project, a social-conservative advocacy group, released a particularly striking ad featuring a little girl counting flower petals in a gray field, which abruptly shifted to show the girl in a hospital bed wearing an oxygen mask surrounded by an AI-generated Talarico. The narrator warned, "Irreversible puberty blockers.
Cross-sex hormones. Sex-change surgeries." The group believed that this message would energize the base and negatively impact the Democrats' coalition.
Written by urgent.news from The Atlantic's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
